Route recommendations to Ushuaia in march?

[norschweger]

Hello!
I finally decided to continue and NOT to make a "detour" home for half a year.
Being in Salta/Argentina, I guess I am a little late and think that I might take a direct route to the tip and then up on the chilean side, with less stress and the option to sell or ship the bike from Santiago.
Any recommendations considering the wind or other aspects around this are appreciated!
Thanks!

[inaa]

Hello norschweger.

maybe now i can help a little

we drove the routa 40/carretera austral down and the routa 3 at the coast up. I prefered routa 40 as it is more scenic and has more variations once in a while
The coast was very very windy and too often too monotonous.

But if you go to the coast, go off the nationalroute 3 and make the ruta costanera between comodoro rivadavia and puerto madryn. It is a good gravelroad with a nice coastal part where you even could pitch your tent with now one around you.
And the big plus is that there is a penguin-colonie less famous and less crowded than that at punta tombo. Its near camarones and the penguins nest their until march.

further down you will pass puerto deseado which was really nothing special. As it is a little off the main road a in my opinion just not worth the extra fuel


Another trip I definitely can recommend is the bordercrossing with chile. It is the last border driving from north to south. Its called Paso roballos and the scenery is stunning!! One of our best rides so far!

[norschweger]

Originally Posted by Cleland

windguru.com may be of help, it will tell you at what time the wind will pick up and you can plan your day accordingly


tip from a local, if the wind is blowing hard DONT stop till you can do it in a sheltered area, if not , you are quite likely to be blown over.....
true....

great info, thanks a lot!!!

[norschweger]

Originally Posted by inaa

Hello norschweger.

maybe now i can help a little

we drove the routa 40/carretera austral down and the routa 3 at the coast up. I prefered routa 40 as it is more scenic and has more variations once in a while
The coast was very very windy and too often too monotonous.

But if you go to the coast, go off the nationalroute 3 and make the ruta costanera between comodoro rivadavia and puerto madryn. It is a good gravelroad with a nice coastal part where you even could pitch your tent with now one around you.
And the big plus is that there is a penguin-colonie less famous and less crowded than that at punta tombo. Its near camarones and the penguins nest their until march.

further down you will pass puerto deseado which was really nothing special. As it is a little off the main road a in my opinion just not worth the extra fuel


Another trip I definitely can recommend is the bordercrossing with chile. It is the last border driving from north to south. Its called Paso roballos and the scenery is stunning!! One of our best rides so far!

This definately helps! Thanks, great info!
Safe travels!
If you need help with the chains, maybe a friend of mine in Peru can sort sth.out. Let me know!

[Two Moto Kiwis]

....don't drop ya bike mate, don't wonna bend ya subframe

Let us know how ya get on!!

[inaa]

about the wind i do also have a tip a policeman gave us:

if you see a few trucks standing on the sideways one besides another - you should stop also.

The wind sometimes gets that strong that it even blews a truck over. So the truckers know the winds and parking beside another to build some kind of a wall

We had many wind and i got once blown over, but then I am not that strong as most men

[norschweger]

Originally Posted by Two Moto Kiwis

....don't drop ya bike mate, don't wonna bend ya subframe

Let us know how ya get on!!

went through a sad part of the trip with never-ending trouble-shooting of the bike, mechanics who were walking in the dark...well, it seems to have had positive side effects and now I am on the move again, in Entre Lagos. Tomorrow I will pick up my tires and continue south towards the Carretera Austral.
Where are you at?
Cheers!

[brecchi]

Hey norschweger, Ive been stuck in Bariloche, also with bike issues, but I plan to head south tomorrow and cross in a day or 2 at Futulefu......maybe Ill see you on the Carreterra Austral

[norschweger]

...that I met you on the road before I even read this answer...: )
Nice encounter!

[ElExplorador]

Get a move on guys, I got outta there three weeks ago in a snowstorm and it was not fun. Adventure, sure, fun, not so much. To avoid waiting in the wind and cold if you cross at Punta Delgada don't wait behind the cars!

Also Ben, if you're still riding with your pack on your shoulders - may want to strap it to the bike for this one, that wind is nasty and you don't want to be a giant sail for it!

Congrats on having the balls to race winter South gents, good luck and feel free to contact me when you're in Ushuaia - there is some great trekking to get done there I'd be happy to help get you oriented.